400k house estimated - became a 470k house / an experience report

The excel sheet tells me everything. The money was spent in the blinkblink area, the substance did not drive the price. Most people here have apparently never been involved with commercial buildings and do not approach the residential projects objectively enough, which only pleases the house seller.

The Excel spreadsheet tells me everything. The money was spent in the blinkblink area, the substance did not drive the price. Most people here apparently have never accompanied commercial buildings and do not approach the owner-occupied home projects objectively enough, which only pleases the house seller.

Building your own home for maybe forever and for your own or future family simply cannot be done objectively. You also cannot plan your own wedding or similar things objectively....

Yes, a house is possible. It depends on the economic pressure. A wedding is also possible. In 1985 we had 2000 marks, that had to be enough, and it was a nice celebration, albeit simple.

I wonder how people used to do it back in the day

Black?

Better to pave than gravel if you don't want your driveway to look like Garden of the Grey.

Nope, we have gravel, the dark gray... the kind others put around their house tree, we have it as our driveway instead of paving. Full planting on the left and right, like it was years ago, so not three symmetrical grasses in a row, but hydrangeas and co. And it doesn’t look unpleasant. It saved a lot, and we find it really chic.

simple, plain,

For me, it’s been going on for over a decade: everything that is plain and simple, or call it minimalist, is more expensive than blingbling. And since I prefer it plain, a lot becomes more expensive oops:

Not all people who don't get married work in the homicide unit

The good wife asks her friend during the afternoon coffee chat: "Do you sometimes think about divorce too??" She answers: "No, never, always only about murder"

We paved the footpaths with 11,- Euro stones. The terrace with Diephaus via patio, everything for cars is only covered with granite chippings. The broken kind. It settles well, is inexpensive, and there is no snow here. Many people have done it this way here to save some money. Few have rock gardens here; that is not fashionable here. But that is another topic. It’s about the budget and not overspending, which begins with careful planning. I also found the bluntly honest manner of our contractor helpful here. In the final meeting, we asked him to realistically calculate the house as truly turnkey now. He said, see, painter, floors, kitchen, garden landscaping, surveyor, and connections would still add xy. That was a number that was approximately correct as well. That way, we didn’t have any illusions, and we were very cautious when ordering, knowing what was still to come. Our house is really good quality. Built and moved into in 2017, hardly any settlement cracks, all sill joints okay, all doors okay, the Ikea kitchen is still top-notch, the installed technology does what it’s supposed to, the house was free of defects except for minor issues, and now that the warranty is expiring, I’m not worried.